ABSTRACT
In 1.22B, the question of linguistic subgrouping was discussed in general terms. The present chapter addresses the problem of subgrouping in NIA, using Masica’s summary of the situation as a starting point (1991: app. II, pp. 446–62). Evidence will be presented in 5.1 and 5.2 for a number of shared innovations in a group of languages traditionally known as the “outer group” of Indo-Aryan. Chapter 6 will examine the implications of this linguistic evidence in the light of relevant archaeological and historical knowledge. Various subgroupings of NIA. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203412916/90cae479-33c5-4cd3-be5a-6a439071858d/content/fig00012_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
Notes
1 Kashmiri is often considered to belong to a “Dardic” branch of Indo-Aryan, though this seems to be largely a regional grouping with some locally diffused shared features, rather than a genuine genetic subgroup.
2 “Lahnda” or “Lahndi” refers to the western varieties of Panjabi, now entirely in Pakistan.
3 “Bihari” is a language construct of Grierson’s, comprising Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Magahi.
4 “Rajasthani” is also a Grierson construct, which includes the dialects located between Hindi and Gujarati.
5 Not included here: (A) Rumany/Rumani, the languages of the Gypsies (probably connected with the Dumaki language of Hunza); (B) Dardic (see note1); (C) Nuristani, a group of languages in the extreme northwest of the subcontinent; (D) Sinhala, the language of Srilanka, and the closely related Maldivian of the Maldives.
